Domestic Violence Has Killed Hundreds of Women in South America. Singer Sol Pereyra is Fighting Back.

Argentinian singer/songwriter Sol Pereyra’s new single, out in time for International Women’s Day, tackles femicide head on.

by Rafaella Gunz

Between January and October of 2015, 223 women died as a result of gender-based violence in Argentina, according to La Casa del Encuentro. Since 2008, there have been over 2,224 reported cases of femicide in the country. One Argentinean musician has had enough.

Singer-songwriter Sol Pereyra began her solo career in 2009, following a five-year stint in Julieta Venegas’ backing band. Prendete, her solo album out on April 21, was entirely crowdfunded. Her newest single comes out on International Women’s Day (March 8), and references the ongoing anti-femicide movement in Latin American countries, including Pereyra’s home of Argentina.

“Focusing on femicide must be done with care: it is a way of forcing society to confront violence against women, not of allowing authorities to ignore anything short of murder — both because lower-level violence is more prevalent, and because men who murder their partners usually have a history of attacking them,” an editorial in The Guardianreads.

Last October, tens of thousands of Argentinian women marched to protest the prevalence of violence against women and girls. Organized using social media under the hashtag #NiUnaMenos (Not One Less), they were joined by women in other Latin American nations where femicide is also incredibly common, including Mexico, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and El Salvador.

Considering many songs on the album, including “Flores Salvajes,” are incredibly critical of political systems in Latin American countries, it’s apt that Pereyra decided to crowdfund the new record. Channeling No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom, the album is very rock-influenced yet danceable, mixing rock, reggae, ska and hip-hop.

#NiUnaMenos has evolved into more than just an anti-femicide movement, advocating for women’s rights more generally. “The importance of access to sexual and reproductive rights for all women is among the many topics this movement is now fighting for,” Magdalena Medley writes for Amnesty International.

And Sol Pereyra’s voice within this movement is meaningful, just like the lyrics to her upcoming single.

“Here we unite in one bunch, mermaids of the sea, sky, and the earth. Our intention isn’t war, we’re searching for peace, that’s all there is,” Pereyra sings in “Flores Salvajes.” “We will not allow one less, and for that we fight. Don’t cut the flowers, learn to respect them.”